Have you served in the military?

[rwest]

I just realized we may have quite a few on here that's served(or currently serving) in the Military.
so how bout it? Give your name if you want to, and if you don't, how about rank, branch and where.

I'll start it off....

Specialist Fourth Class Robert West
US ARMY 1982-1986
C Battery/6th of the 9th Feild Artillery Battalion/5th Armored Division
- Giesen, Germany

B Battery/1st of the 3rd Feild Artillery Battalion/2nd Armored Division
Ft. Hood, Texas

US ARMY Reserves 1986-1988
HHD 520th Maint. Battallion
St. Louis, Mo

[strollin]

US Army 1971-1974
Spec 4
31L20 Field Radio Relay and Carrier Equipment Repairman
Basic - Ft. Ord, CA
AIT - Ft. Gordon, GA
Recruiting Duty - Santa Cruz, CA
Duty Station - Camp Huston, Korea
Duty Station - Ft. Riley, KS

[strollin]

.

[trulad]

Second Amphibious Tractor BN.
Second Marine Division
Korean War
Sgt. U.S.M.C.

[BigRed CC Dually]

US Navy 1967 - 1971
E5 (Petty Officer 2nd Class)
Machinist Mate (operated engine room, pump, generator, fresh water generation etc.)
USS Tidewater AD-31
USS Manley DD-940
USS Cone DD-866

[raftero]

Navy-1951-1955 AC2nd class (control tower operator)

[rwest]

Thanks guys, Hopefully we'll see some more!

[HAL9000]

Have you served in the military?

Nope.

[Kidd]

SSgt, USAF March 2002 - March 2008
Ramstein Air Base, Germany
Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, AZ
Balad Air Base, Iraq
Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar

P.O.L. / Fuels Craftsman

[Kidd]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Have you served in the military? Nope.

Why not?

[HAL9000]

Don't need to... heck, Canada doesn't really need a military... I'm not going to go much deeper than that or I'll have to give myself a warning for going political.

[rwest]

Hal, I won't hold it against ya'.

Truthfully the military isn't for everybody. And in the US today we have the option to not join.

Whatever your reason is for not joining your country's military, shouldn't matter to anyone else but you.

I was really just curious who of our members have served in any militay. This thread wasn't even directed at the U.S. military. While it seems most of our posters are from the U.S.military, others who serve or haved served any military should feel welcome to post.

I believe all who serve thier country deserve recognition for serving, and for the honor they uphold for for their country.

[Iamjosh]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Have you served in the military? Nope.

add me to that list. However, I did a brief stint as a volunteer firefighter until my surgery.

[EzyStvy]

Hats off to you guys that served

Joining was in the back of my mind when I was 15ish. Vietnam was in full swing at the time

My brother that's 2 years older was in the last group of guys to ever get drafted. He was given the choice of Vietnam or Germany. Knock on wood that he's still with us to tell stories of drinking lots of dark beer.

[Iamjosh]

Originally Posted by EzyStvy Hats off to you guys that served Joining was in the back of my mind when I was 15ish. Vietnam was in full swing at the time My brother that's 2 years older was in the last group of guys to ever get drafted. He was given the choice of Vietnam or Germany. Knock on wood that he's still with us to tell stories of drinking lots of dark beer.

If we didn't have soldiers, we wouldn't have stories like this today.

YouTube - The Power of Music - 90 year old WWII vet recounts war incident

[Kidd]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Don't need to... heck, Canada doesn't really need a military... I'm not going to go much deeper than that or I'll have to give myself a warning for going political.

Consider yourself warned

I'm glad I had the choice, and very glad I joined. I learned a lot about discipline and accountability in the military. An while it most certainly isn't for everybody, there are plenty of youths who could learn plenty about respect, personal responsibility and accountability by serving.

[David M]

Currently a licensed US Merchant Marine officer. In wartime, the merchant marine becomes a branch of the military. Without a merchant marine to move everything, there is no war. In WW2, hundreds of thousands of merchant mariners died serving their country. It is one of the branches of the military that is quite often forgotten.

[kr0nic04]

IL ANG - USAF SrA Stationed @ Scott AFB. Posted there for 4 1/2 years. Military brat as well, lots of places visited. Fun fun but screwy at the same time. Cheers!

[Nuclear Krusader]

Originally Posted by Kidd I'm glad I had the choice, and very glad I joined. I learned a lot about discipline and accountability in the military. An while it most certainly isn't for everybody, there are plenty of youths who could learn plenty about respect, personal responsibility and accountability by serving.

This is one of the very reasons why military service should be mandatory in every country. It's not about learning how to kill people, as some ignorami say, but about developing character, responsibility and a sense of caring about others, and learning that your actions have consequences.

I still live by the 3M rule my mission, my men, myself.

[HAL9000]

I don't think that always works Nuke... I've known several in the military (Canada and the US) and seen plenty of disrespectfull you know what holes.

[MaxRat]

I've never served either but alot of my family has and does....

I was set to join straight out of Highschool but found the recruiter not to be so honest so I didnt enlist...all I am saying

[Kidd]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader This is one of the very reasons why military service should be mandatory in every country. It's not about learning how to kill people, as some ignorami say, but about developing character, responsibility and a sense of caring about others, and learning that your actions have consequences. I still live by the 3M rule my mission, my men, myself.

I agree, but understand that this view isn't popular. Plenty of people can lead productive lives without conscription, but then again, when a judge gives a young offender the option of jail or service, it's often the best second chance a kid can ever receive. (I served with a few of these guys) If only they had joined before they ever got in trouble.........

In Honduras, there used to be a mandatory 2 year enlistment for men turning 18. When the mandatory service was abolished, these boys had little opportunities for employment, and fewer for education. The result was an explosion in the country's problem with street gangs. US citizens vacationing there have been robbed and murdered by the gangs there, including a couple military retirees I heard about in '03.

Max, if you had a dishonest recruiter, you're not the only one complaining about it, and what a crappy thing to happen to a person wanting to serve their country. I wish everyone had the opportunity to meet my recruiter, then SSgt Kirksey, who always gave me straight answers during the 6 months I waited to leave for basic training.

[edfair]

REserve time only, USMCR Atlanta GA 1955-1961
Aircraft Electronics Tech E3
Worked on F4U Corsairs and AD Skyraiders before they were A1s.

[rwest]

edfair, your contribution is still just as important and appreciated just as much.

Alot of people forget-the reserves 'are' our backup. Look at how many have been called to active duty in the last five years.

---
Every person gets out of the military what they put in it. The ones who are back on the street and talking sh_t, did not understand why they were there in the first place. I'm sure a lot of these people are ones who probably did not belong in the first place. Whatever their reason for joining was.......it was highly misplaced.

As with any type of organized force, the bad apple's are what people remember and take note of. Whether it's done puposely or not. Look at how often a police brutality scene has hit the news. So....How many police awards have been televised on the news?

Look at how much destruction gets televised on or news stations. How many of our highly decoratd service men have been broadcasted? huh? I'm 45 and I think I remember seeing one breif segment.

All I'm saying is: Don't blame the bunch because of a few idiots.

[raftero]

i too believe a couple of years in the military would be beneficial to most young people just out of hi school, give them time to think of what they might want to do with their lives. i think i would have turned out ok without the military because of the upbringing i had but i learned a lot in the 4 years i was in (some of which i probably didn't need to know LOL) but i received my training as an air traffic controller and followed that after my discharge and it turned out to be a good life.

[Panama Red]

US Army - Enlisted
Sep 1967 - April 1970
SP5 E5 Landing Craft Operator & Company Clerk
329th Transportation Company - Heavy Boat
Vietnam service April 1968 - April 1970
While based in Da Nang, we supported the US Marines and Army by transporting ammo & supplies up the rivers of northern South Vietnam to Hue and Dong Ha. I served as a lead seaman and 50 cal machine gunner before transferring to the Headquarters Platoon to serve as company clerk. Our landing craft had been used by the Navy during Korea and handed off to the Army in 1967. They were about 120' long and 34' wide with a max crew of 11 (2 warrant officers and 9 crewmen).

Thanks to all who have served. Freedom isn't Free.

[glc]

AW1 (that's an E-6), USNR, Retired

8 years active, 16 years Reserve. 550 P-2 flight hours and 5300 P-3 flight hours.

[Jomama]

USAF 1961 to 1966 active. Spent most of my time@ Vandenberg AFB CA, fixing washers and dryers in the housing areas. Trained as an electrician.
My thanks to all who served.

[MikeMoss]

Mike

United States Army.
1960-1963.
Specialist 5th class.
United States Army Special Warfare Combat Developments Agency.
Fort Bragg, NC, Special Warfare Center.

I was head of the art and printing department.

I met General Westmoreland a number of times.
He was post commander at that time and he had a prodigious memory.
I have a really funny story about that!

Mike

[SARGE]

An interesting read.